2012 Summer Olympics Recap: Day 16 — US Captures Most Overall Medals As London Games End

The 2012 Summer Olympics came to a close in London on Sunday with the United States adding two more gold medals to bring its Olympic-high total to 46. Here’s a recap of the day’s highlights:

LeBron James scored 19 points, including a late three-pointer to seal the win, as the United States defeated Spain, 107-100, to win gold in men’s basketball. Kevin Durant scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Team USA, who led by just one point after three quarters before pulling away in the fourth. NBA player Pau Gasol scored 24 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Spanish team. The Russian men beat Argentina, 81-77, to capture the bronze medal.

In other events, American wrestler Jake Varner beat Valerie Andriitsev of the Ukraine to win gold in the 96-kilogram class of freestyle wrestling. Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda won the marathon in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second, with Abel Kirui of Kenya grabbing the silver medal and Kenyan Wilson Kiprotich earning bronze. Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania won gold in the women’s modern pentathlon, the London Games’ last medal awarded. Samantha Murray of Britain earned the silver and Yane Marques of Brazil captured the bronze.

The US finished the London Games with 104 medals, including 46 golds. Both totals led all countries. The 104 medals were America’s highest total at an Olympics outside the US. China finished second with 87 medals, including 38 golds. Britain won 29 golds and 65 medals to finish fourth among the competing nations. The totals were the best for the host country in 104 years.

The closing ceremonies were expected to include the Spice Girls, One Direction, The Who and other musical acts. Much of the fans’ attention will be on athletic superstars such as Usain Bolt of Jamaica, who repeated his triple gold effort from Beijing in 2008, US swimmer Michael Phelps, whose 22 medals are an all-time Olympic record, and Britain’s Mo Farah, the Somali-born runner who captured a difficult double gold in the 5,000- and 10,000-meters.

The next Summer Olympics are scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016; the next Winter Olympics take place in Sochi, Russia in 2014.